The Same Love Story
by YourWettestDream
Summary: Naruto: "It's always the same love stories. Why do you keep reading it over and over again?" Sasuke: "Because we still want to see all the different ways different people find to make it right" Yaoi, NaruSasuNaru, lemon
1. Bittersweet

**_A/N: Hello!_**

 ** _Yeah, this is a new fanfiction. And I'm not even going to start and apologize about not giving you the extra chapter for Sake, Sex, Sasuke because right now I hate that story. In fact I plan on completely rewriting it one day, so I can take the rape scene out and make it more consensual. When I do it, then I'll post the extra chapter._**

 ** _This is my first big story, even though I have no idea how long it's supposed to be. So it's an adventure for me, and I was surprised to find I actually improved from my last fanfiction to this one, lol. I think two years make a lot of difference in maturity, yeah._**

 ** _Hope you guys enjoy it. It kept bugging me to be written, and I hope it bugs you too._**

 ** _Word counting: 6,095_**

-x-

 **The Same Love Story**

 **Chapter 1: Bittersweet**

 _Tac tac tac_

"The norm is said to be a sum of elements. Among jurists, the concept…"

 _Tac tac tac_

"…the concept of norm and the elements which define it vary, even though the _number_ of it seems to…"

 _Tac tac tac_

"…remain the same. For the jurist Miguel Reale, norm is…"

 _Tac tac tac_

Ok that was enough.

"Would you stop that, for God's sake?" Sasuke said as he turned to face the other.

"Aw c'mon Sasuke! I come all the way over here and you leave me alone with nothing but a ping pong ball"

"I didn't call you, you came at your own risk. And I _told_ you _yesterday_ I was going to study"

Naruto made a face, and then a half-pout "Yeah, but Law Studies Introduction is sooo boring". _That_ he had to agree with. So far, his very first semester at law school had been even more boring than he thought it would be. And since it was already November, he highly doubted it had much time to improve. There was only one subject which was at all connected to the course, and the teacher was a pain. Kind of literally, in fact. It was hard even for Sasuke, further more for Naruto.

"Yeah, I know, but boring doesn't mean you don't have to study. That's probably why you're failing it anyway".

"I'm not failing it, yeah? I just need a couple more points than I did last time and I'll pass. And I'm not even trying very hard, differently from you and philosophy" the other said grinning in a teasing manner. "Hn" he responded, because it was both true and a complete lie. Sasuke _did_ have some issues with Philosophy, and even though he studied he couldn't make it make sense inside his head. It was very hard being used to average, even though he was excelled in all the rest.

The rest of it was a lie because Naruto did study hard. He was the most hardworking person he knew, and Sasuke admired him for that. But now he was annoying him on purpose, trying to deviate his attention from anything serious. And although he'd been resisting fairly enough until now, he could just feel himself giving in very soon.

"Maa, you're too annoying. If I knew you'd ignore me I would have just gone out with Sakura then! I ditched her because I was finally free and I hadn't seen you for so long! But no, why would you appreciate it? I should've seen it coming. You're such a bastard I don't even know why I like you! And you're still quiet! You know what, I'll just get my things and –"

"Dobe"

"What?"

"Choose a movie. Fast and Furious or Die Hard?"

"Which one of which?"

"The 6th and the last"

"The latter" he replied, and with that they fell into pace, putting the book and the ball away, turning the TV on and acting as if nothing'd happened. Sasuke appreciated that. It was interesting that even though Naruto could be one hell of a bother he sometimes knew when to act agreeing and quiet, and not talk about something. Even if _maybe_ such thing hardly ever happened, and even if he hadn't missed the just barely hidden smile of victory on the blond's face.

Naruto hid it, now, in order not to annoy Sasuke anymore, so good he was with reading people. But the brunet was okay even if he'd laughed out loud and pointed at him right at his face. Just his friend's presence was enough to make him joyful. Sasuke had met Naruto five months past, and he was in love with him since before the blond's birthday, one month previous.

 _It had been the first day of college and the stupid sophomores had put it upon themselves to introduce the freshman to Law School by creating an even stupider groups dynamic. The introduction lasted the entire first week, with different speeches taking place, but the first day was dedicated to the basics, and so they were supposed to learn each other's names._

 _Unnecessary to say, Sasuke thought it was ridiculous and he died a little at watching each other person trying to make themselves sound cooler than they actually were. He regretted arriving always early, because had he gotten there later, he would've gone by unnoticed (until the second day of class at least). Instead, he'd had to say his name and age out loud, as well as his professional goal after he ended the course: which was basically to take over the family's business together with Itachi. All in all, it had resulted in half the girls to peek at him from that time and on._

 _It had been halfway through the morning and, so far, he hadn't found anyone or anything even remotely interesting. There were a few people who caught his attention, though: the course coordinator – a busty, strict looking woman named Tsunade – a white (or was it blue?) haired sophomore called Suigetsu and a bachelor who said his name was Kakashi. Sasuke couldn't say what was Kakashi's business there, but it honestly wasn't like he cared._

 _So when he thought it was all over and he would be doomed for the rest of the week, everything got entirely worse as someone who was his complete opposite burst through the door, radiant smile in place. Blond, blue-eyed and tanned, almost two hours late and absolutely shameless he spoke up, several tones too high for Sasuke's taste: "Good morning! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I'm a sixteen-years-old genius and I will be president and change the country!" he said, grinning brightly at the end._

 _Had anyone ever told this guy this was college and not preschool?_

 _Sasuke had raised a brow at that, and after a moment of stunned silence the room had erupted with laughter. Naruto worn an indignant look to his features, but got over his shame to reaffirm himself even louder than before "I mean it! I'm gonna become the president, you will all see it! I'm a genius, how many people do you think made it to college at the age of sixteen, huh?"_

 _Well, for a genius he sure talked too much. That is, Sasuke's mind seemed to think that geniuses tended to speak much less, and in a much lower tone. Maybe it was just a stereotype, but he was applying if full force now._

 _"He's sixteen too!" a girl with pink hair, one of the ones who were looking at him earlier, reminded the class as she told Naruto the crashing news. The blond narrowed his eyes "You don't look sixteen, you look older. I'm definitely younger than you, ha!"_

 _The class out broke in laughter yet again, Kakashi and Tsunade looking slightly amused, even as the latter seemed to try and balance a little seriousness to her composure all the same. The girl before blushed, and he felt annoyed both for passing as a lady-killer guy and a clown, all of it while not even trying to._

 _Sooner rather than later the laughter ceased, and Naruto swore to become his rival and show himself better at whatever Sasuke did from that day on. It didn't matter that later they'd become friends and Sasuke'd said he'd become seventeen the next day, 23_ _rd_ _July, because they'd already become rivals and had regular banters to mark their friendship. But Sasuke didn't have much taste for fighting the blond right now._

Finding out about his infatuation was both a delightful and a dreadful experience, and it still was. Sasuke remembered that and had to hide a smile as Naruto stared menacingly at the DVD as if he didn't know how to proceed. The blond turned to him with his face scrunched up in a frustrated frown which screamed 'I want you to help me, but I don't want to ask for help'.

With a huff, he took the blond's place and dealt with the settings for the movie in about two minutes and then hit play. Next thing, he got up to go make some popcorn, coming back just in time to see the first sequence of shots. He sighed. He'd so far noticed Naruto's taste for adrenaline, but really, what was he point in seeing people running and killing each other in action movies?

"Yay, popcorn! You read my mind, Sasuke, I'm so hungry right now"

"More like I read your belly. And you're always hungry" as if to mark this point, Naruto's belly made a huge roar.

"I guess you're right, hehe" He said, laughing sheepishly "Thanks, anyway"

It was incredible how even a small acknowledgement like this one was enough to make him feel warmer inside. And when he was together with his friend like at this moment, it was hard for him to hide his happiness, too.

He sat down and the watched the movie non-stop. Sasuke would like to say it was a quiet session, but what with Naruto and explosions it just wouldn't do. He still left twice for more popcorn, but by the time the movie was over the blond was yet again hungry.

"We should go out, you know. Go eat _something_ "

"You talk as if you haven't just eaten three bowls of popcorn, dobe. And I'm not eating ramen again"

"Argh, c'mon, teme! Popcorn is practically made or air, it doesn't fill anything! Besides, you can eat somewhere else after I do, you don't have to eat ramen as well" he said grinning.

"So I'm just gonna starve while you're making yourself satisfied?" somehow, this phrasing gathered more than one meaning in his head.

"Yeah" the blond replied even brighter.

"No fucking way" he replied, slapping himself mentally. Really, Sasuke? He shut the DVD off and put the disc away.

"Oh, please? I'm really hungry right now!"

"Then I'll cook something for the both of us, but I'm not going out to watch you eating ramen"

Naruto's eyes shone at that "Omg, you're gonna make pasta, aren't you?" he asked leaning in on Sasuke. Even if the raven hadn't thought of doing so and had instead thought of making pancakes or whatever for dinner, those pleading eyes so near to his face would've made him submit to his friend's will anyway.

"Yeah" he said getting up and far from Naruto.

"With sauce" the other continued, rising as well.

"Obviously" he answered disdainfully.

"And beef!" Naruto yelped following him out the door to his room.

"Yep" he confirmed going down the stairs.

"And olives?"

"It could make a good seasoning, yeah"

"And milk?" the blond demanded, having Sasuke stop at the entry to the kitchen and look back at him with a brow raised "Milk? I'm not making Bechamel sauce, you know I hate it"

"Yeah, but still! It would taste incredible with milk" he beamed "and eggs". Now Sasuke turned with a mix of disgust and fun in his face and said "Ok this is not How to Basics channel, okay? My food's _not_ spoiled, I'm _not_ going to use eggs at random, nor am I going to conjure babies out of ovens, is that understood?" as the blond seemed to want to insist he continued "I'm going to cook food _edible_ for the _both_ of us, and this is _my_ kitchen so _my_ rules apply here. Thank you very much"

That settled Sasuke went down to the mission of cooking a simple Bolognese sauce and spaghetti, since Naruto liked it so much. At glancing to his friend he noticed the blond sported a genuine pout after the small lecture he'd received, and he rolled his eyes as he realised that Naruto had _actually_ intended to put all those things into the mix. Naruto's taste was just plainly disgusting. He was attractive, smart and happy, but his taste in food was bloody gross.

As Sasuke searched the cupboards for the things he needed to start cooking his meal the blond started babbling about one day when he'd put milk, butter, banana, bread, chocolate and cookies together into the blender and mixed it up as if it was a milkshake, putting it in a glass and drinking it with chocolate toppings. The raven was torn between wanting to contemplate the merit of whether Naruto's culinary adventures were edible or ignoring it altogether and decided on the latter, as usual. Not out of time, because the next thing he heard was the beginning of Naruto talking yet again about ramen, and that, he thought, was completely out of his interests.

He'd been turning his friend's voice out as he observed the bubbles from the boiling water for a good five minutes now, when the other called him right back to present time: "Hey, Sasuke"

"What?"

"What do you say I cook dessert?"

"No" he frowned, back turned to Naruto.

"Why not?" the other continued.

"I don't want you to burn my kitchen" he replied, a small smile hidden as he checked the time the pasta had been cooking.

"I'm not gonna burn it"

"Itachi doesn't want you to burn our kitchen either"

"Is Itachi coming?" Naruto asked with a bit of dread attached to his voice "I don't want Itachi to come". Sasuke chuckled to himself, because albeit he _did_ suffer under his brother's hands, it was so easy for Itachi to mess with the blond, and the raven liked to watch it. Nevertheless, his brother divided the time he had with them together to equally tease both of them, and it embarrassed him as well as it took alone time with his friend. So it was a bittersweet feeling of not exactly wishing but all the same cheering at the idea his brother might show up. But since Itachi'd taken their father's place at Uchiha Corps he hardly ever got home early, and he didn't get to see his sibling much at all. He felt kind of orphan not only of a father and a mother, but also of a brother. Still, he knew the other cared for him a great deal and he managed to keep it in mind most of days.

"I don't know he might as well show up" he teased.

"Oh my god I _told_ you not to call me when your brother was at home!" the blond said desperately grabbing his own hair and staring at the table top.

"I didn't, you came because you wanted to. Besides, he's not coming" the raven said as he took the cooked pasta out of the water.

"You're sure? You just said he'd come"

"Dobe"

"Aah?" He bellowed indignantly "What's that, teme?"

"You're a dobe 'cause I was so obviously teasing you" he finally turned to Naruto, mocking smile in place.

"That was _not_ obvious!" the blond shouted pointing at him "I wanted to make a very nice dessert I searched for and that's so delicious even _you_ would like, bastard! But you know what? Now I'm not gonna do it" he ended with a humph as he sat down cross legged facing the side.

Now it was these times that made him feel like the day was worth waking up to. These times when Naruto showed he so irrevocably cared about him, when he went as far as looking for a recipe of dessert which wasn't so sweet, so that he might like it. Sasuke esteemed Naruto's persistence both rationally and emotionally: the first made him admire Naruto all the more and the second as well, together with a warm feeling he much cherished.

And he couldn't say he wasn't curious as to what it would be, because indeed, he was. But he also knew how much heterosexual Naruto was, how much he loved Sakura, how she was the only one in his eyes, how he didn't have any other gay friends such as him, and just… Argh. Everything felt exasperatingly against him coming out of the closet, even more if it was for Sasuke to tell his friend he was in love with him. So he kept to his reasonably asshole and insensitive self, showing as little as he could, paranoid anything would be a shining sign of his mad, damned love for his friend.

"Hn. As if you could do it. You're just bragging about nothing, as usual. I doubt you'd do anything but humiliate yourself. And burn the kitchen, of course" he turned away to heat the sauce, putting some sliced olive together as well.

"That's not true. It doesn't even go to the stove"

"Hn"

"And I did it home already, Iruka and Sakura said it was delicious"

"Seriously?" the raven looked away from the pan for a moment just to show Naruto his raised eyebrow then turned back around "you're taking both of your closest people's opinions to convince me it was good?"

"What's the matter, huh?"

"Well, they'd say it was good even if it was horrible"

"Ha, you're one of my closest people too, Sasuke" the raven's heart clenched at that "I just wanted to make them try it first so it was good enough to show you" he grinned childishly.

Sasuke sighed and closed the cupboard he'd just opened to look back at a grinning Naruto "I'm flattered you tested it on them first and they didn't die from it. You can do it after we eat dinner. It's ready anyway" he said with a shy smile of his own. The blond beamed and yayed him back, and he went to pour the pasta and sauce together into a recipient for them to serve. When Naruto wasn't looking the raven faked a couple punches to his face, being both angry and disappointed at letting his own will slip like this. Only one smile from his friend and half a dozen caring phrases and there he was, smiling back like an idiot with 'I love you' written upon his forehead. He really hated himself sometimes.

"Hmmm, this is delicious, Sasuke!"

"You think everything is delicious, dobe"

"I do not! Most of things are just good, but this is amazing!" he said with his mouth filled "and not even think about false modesty, I'm not gonna praise you just because you said you're bad at something"

"I didn't say I was bad, I merely said you have no taste in food whatsoever" he raised a brow at the blond while preparing a fork, the other narrowing his eyes, but not really putting much force behind it though "anyway, what dessert is it you're preparing?"

The blond grinned and shoved another bunch of food into his mouth before replying "I hope you have enough chocolate and eggs here" he grinned. Sasuke's brows vanished behind his brows "Fuck you're not going to do this" he raven answered, regretting.

Before his friend could say anything in return, Sasuke heard something. Of course, he thought, it might have been Sasuke's ear tricking him, but he swore he'd heard a very faint sound of a door closing. From the years of experience of Itachi creeping up on him, he believed it was not his mistake. It was an observation of a mere second, and looking across the table, he saw the other hadn't heard a thing.

"It's none of what you expect, I swear!" Naruto said, starting to put himself another full plate of pasta, being careful to pick some extra olives too.

"You better not or rather you'll have whatever it is shoved in very annoying places".

"Ha" the blond started, completely missing the point "as if you could get near me enough to –"

"Who's going to shove what in very annoying places?"

Naruto froze, a fork halfway to his mouth, while Sasuke had to hold back a smirk with all his might. Itachi never failed to amuse him when it concerned his blond friend. There was a long silence: Itachi waiting for his presence to be acknowledged, and Naruto expecting the silence to mean his brother had never been there in the first place. He, on the other hand, was hiding whatever mirth on the situation and waiting for the normal events to follow.

With a knowing smile directed towards Sasuke, Itachi dropped his keys on the tiny silver tray by the door, the clacking sound making enough of a reminder of his presence to Naruto. The blond jerked around, eyes alert and body language speaking he was ready to flee "Itachi" he saluted gravely.

"Naruto" he smirked innocently while taking a few steps in and taking off his suit. His friend whipped around to him again, a mix of fear and plead in his eyes "you said he wouldn't be here"

"I don't control it" he replied and resumed to eating his dinner.

"You didn't answer my question" Itachi loomed beside the table now, making Naruto look up and scurry away from him.

"Don't get near me!" the blond shout with an accusing finger pointing at his sibling.

"Why would I? It's clear for me that only my little brother has any intent on shoving things into annoying places here" he said, turning his teasing grin towards Sasuke this time. All the while he was loosening the knot on his tie, his suit hanging folded over his arm. The fun was gone from his face in seconds, the raven shooting a warning glance to his brother, whose wicked grin, if possible, only spread wider. "Itachi…" he threatened.

The blond seemed lost at the exchange going on before him, looking from Sasuke to Itachi and trying to grasp whatever meaning there was to the silent conversation taking place in the room. "What are you talking about? Sasuke, what is he talking about?" The raven didn't pay attention though, as he kept staring at his brother's sardonic smile, is bun poking the air as he shook his head from one side to another in a disapproving manner.

See, _that's_ why having Itachi arrive when he was with Naruto was both the funniest thing and the easiest way to put his nerves on edge. Why the fuck had his brother to insinuate such a thing? Sasuke thanked whatever deity there was that Naruto could be so thick-skulled to subtleties such as this one otherwise he would have been even more mortified right now. His bastard of a brother knew he was in love with his friend, knew how much he geared loosing such a friendship, but he _still_ couldn't let the opportunity to keep his mouth shut pass.

Not that Sasuke had told him any of it to begin with. He trusted his brother with a lot of things, but not with the knowledge of his love-interests. However, Itachi found out about his issues all by himself. First thing was his sexual orientation. It went a little like this:

 _Sasuke and Itachi finish dinner on a rare free Saturday night. Sasuke mentions to get up to his room, to which Itachi narrows his eyes and asks him: "Otouto, are you gay?"_

 _The raven didn't give an answer, but he didn't have to. What with choking on the remnants of his juice and letting the glass fall being enough of a response, it seemed._

That was when he was thirteen. Itachi finding out about his passion for Naruto was a little more refined a situation, and it happened, incredibly, the same day Sasuke found out about it himself: that is, in the blond's birthday.

 _Sasuke'd been watching the series almost passionately for the last couple of weeks. It felt immature, but it also felt too amazing to pass. The problem is, tachi had obviously noticed his addiction to Saruto Shuppiiden(1), an anime (yes, an anime) featuring a blond taciturn ninja and his friendship with a lively brunet who was also a ninja and had blue eyes._

 _That day the gang had gathered at Sasuke's house, since they wanted to make a surprise party for Naruto, and Itachi had, eventually, met the blond._

 _It was also the episode that originated all the traumas Naruto had which were Itachi related._

 _It hadn't taken place at Sakura's place because she and Naruto didn't date yet, in fact, Naruto had asked her out at the occasion of his birthday, and she'd somehow accepted. It was then Sasuke noticed he was in love with his friend. And only four hours later, when he was mourning his discovery by watching the series in a very dispirited stance and with a very rare bowl of ice cream sitting in his lap, Itachi entered his room and looked from him to the TV, saying 'Oh fuck, you're in love with him', to which he responded: 'fuck you'._

Coming back to the present, Sasuke noticed Naruto had been utterly quiet and shrunk to his spot, his eyes staring at the cold pasta in his plate in wonder, not daring to move to eat it while Itachi was around. His brother on the other hand seemed quite comfortable. Much too comfortable, in fact. He was still rooted to the same place beside the table, but as he'd finished taking his tie off he was now beginning to unbutton his shirt in front of them.

"Why don't you do this upstairs, Itachi?"

"Why, feeling uncomfortable?" he smirked.

"Not at all. I just have some business to talk to you. In private" Sasuke got up and made it to go upstairs with his brother. The older sibling gestured for him to go first muttering something about 'Otoutos first' with an amused smile. Stopping at the bottom of the stairs he turned to look at Naruto who remained as frozen as he was before. "Keep eating, Dobe. I'll be right back"

The blond merely nodded, his eyes still looking into nothing as if lost in reminiscing dark memories.

As if on cue, a shrieking noise started playing, waking Naruto from his reverie and making him jump a mile high, almost dropping his phone with the move. He answered unthinkingly, and when he replied with a cheerful and relieved "Sakura!" Sasuke rolled his eyes and proceeded to his room, Itachi following strangely obedient behind him.

Entering his room and banging his door shut, the younger one turned to face the other, anger clear in his face "What did you have to do that? You know he's become terrified of you" he inquired, arms gesturing frantically all over the place, albeit still in a controlled, Uchiha way.

"It was funny, Sasuke" his brother responded, completely topless by then.

"Yeah, I thought it might have been for _you_ , but in case you haven't noticed, he was _relieved_ when Sakura distracted him from you. Sooner or later he'll stop coming here at all!"

Itachi narrowed his eyes and bit his lower lip, face serious and eyes calculating on what his younger brother had sad "Are you really this naïve, Otouto?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well" his brother dropped his clothes over Sasuke's bed and made himself comfortable on his sibling's desk chair "I mean that it's pretty obvious for me. Naruto's not letting you go, Sasuke. Sooner or later, Sakura'll break up with him and then you'll be the first person he –"

"SASUKEE!"

One of Naruto's loudest screams yet followed by the noise of something crashing made Sasuke storm down the stairs to check on him, but the raven didn't hear his brother going together with him, so he figured that if his friend was dying or something he'd have to deal with it all on his own.

"What happened!?" He bellowed as he jumped the last four degrees to the ground.

"I'm sorry Sasuke I broke the glass I..."

"It's okay..."

"I dropped the plate too and the mess and..."

"No, Naruto, it's fine, we'll clean this, let me take a look at you..." He said kneeling beside the flustered blond.

"And she..." that's when Sasuke finally noticed it. Besides the broken glass and plate, and the mess of food on the kitchen floor, Naruto was curled upon himself holding his phone tightly in his hand. His voice had cracked the last time he spoke, and there were...

Were those tears?

"She broke up with me, Sasuke. She said she wanted more, she said she wanted something else, I don't know!" he sobbed "What the hell could she want, though? We were dating for only one month, I would have done everything to give her what she wanted, she didn't give me a chance, she didn't give me a chance now either she just hang up on my face I don't know I didn't know I could lose it like this I'm so sorry Sasuke…" and he continued ranting, saying a thousand things that didn't make sense and, either way, the raven wasn't so sure he wanted to hear anymore.

Sasuke felt a chill go down his spine. It scared him how accurate his brother were, the words he'd said barely minutes ago resounding almost premonitory to his ears.

So Sakura had broken up with Naruto. And by phone no less. At least she'd called instead of sending a message, but it still it seemed wrong for Sasuke. Having Naruto's wrecked figure in his arms now showed just how much wrong, and it hurt him too to know he could do little to help. Right now (and he knew it from reading and watching enough love stories) all the blond would want would be Sakura. For a few days, it'd be all he'd think about. Friends could help, and he would always be there by Naruto, but he knew his best help would still be like putting a Band-Aid to cure a fracture. And it hurt him, because even though he would never be the one inflicting this much pain to his friend, he also wished, just for a moment, that he was in position to do so.

And that's when it came all crashing down on him. Because he was sorry, so terribly sorry Naruto was feeling this way, but he also couldn't quite hold back the speck of hope blooming inside him at realising that his friend was now single. And that he could, after all, be at the other side of this, he could be the one calling him back right now to say he didn't want to break up, that it was a mistake, that he was forced to say so; he could be the one who would have been holding Naruto tight this entire time and not have broken up at all to begin with.

And even as he felt bile rise at the disgust he felt of himself for being _happy_ while Naruto was _miserable_ , he couldn't stop the tentative hand that rose to rest over his friend's back. The blond flinched for a moment, the remembrance there was a world outside his sorrow making him stop and look up at Sasuke's eyes. The latter squeezed his eyes in an involuntary concerned expression as he looked at bloodshot blue eyes. "It'll be okay. You know that, right?"

It was lame, but it was all he could say for now. His friend sniffed and nodded without much resolve, accepting the raven's hug and standing entrapped in his arms for a long time. Sasuke took a deep breath, forgetting the odds of the situation at hand. For now, he'd just be Naruto's solace, later he'd chastise himself with whatever guilt remained. He heard a dull thud of a door closing upstairs and realised it might have been Itachi closing the door to his own room. At least the bastard knew when to keep to himself.

He ran a hand through Naruto's hair and breathed deeply again. Well that was a hell of a mess for him to clean.

-x-

 _/Chapter 01: Making off/_

 _Interviewer: When being interview by Persons magazine you admitted to not like sweets. How did it feel to interpret yourself eating ice cream if this is so out of character?_

 _Sasuke: Well, I think this was more of a situation thing, actually. You're right, I don't like sweets, but depressed Sasuke likes it as much as every other person. Besides, I can only guess it's normal for me to have a stock of ice cream for whenever Naruto might show up, him being very fond of sweets and I being in love with him, after all._

 _Interviewer: I guess that is the same thing with popcorn, then?_

 _Sasuke: Not really (chuckles). Believe me or not, Itachi likes to share popcorn with Kisame when he visits. So he has a stock of his own, and I sometimes take it from there._

 _Interviewer: Ok, now last question: how did you feel when Itachi provoked Naruto in front of you?_

 _Sasuke: Oh, I was having internal bursts of laughter. Actually I heard Itachi arriving, so I phrased that question that way entirely on purpose, I knew my brother would catch on to that an tease Naruto somehow. I just didn't expect for it to rebound, but it's always a surprise with Itachi._

 _Interviewer: Ok, thank you, Sasuke!_

 _This is "Chapter 01: Making off" with Sasuke Uchiha, and I see you next chapter!_

-x-

 ** _A/N: So! How did you guys like it? I'll be honest, I don't have a complete plan for this. I already have chapter two in my head, and a few ideas to the middle of the story, but nothing quite concrete. It's my first long story, and I'm really just HOPING it will work out._**

 ** _I'll try and update it every week or two for now, since it's the end of the semester and there's so much to do. When I enter vacations it'll be easier to update, though :)_**

 ** _This is really based on a bit of my reality: my college buildings, the course structure, my friends and all. You'll all see a bit more of it next chapter._**

 ** _Please review!_**

 ** _(1)This is a reference to a fanart made by Yasuli on Deviantart. She probably doesn't know I put it here, but I love her work so much I thought I'd make a tribute to her. I love it so much it's become my background image, lol. If you wanna see it the link's in my profile under the name of "Yasuli's – Roomates" : D_**

 _Posted in 30 May 2015_


	2. Faith

**_A/N: Hello again!_**

 ** _I'm sure you've read this kind of apology a thousand times by now, but yeah, a was a hell lotta busy 'cause it's the end of semester and stuff. And by stuff I mean I got a new addiction to Supernatural. We'll talk about this later, though *grins*_**

 ** _As a consolation I have all the intentions on posting the third chapter until next Tuesday, and the fourth one until next Saturday, since I'll be finally free from college. Hurray!_**

 ** _There you go! Please review!_**

 ** _Word counting: 6.653_**

–x–

 **The Same Love Story**

 **Chapter 2: Faith**

 _Sakura had come and gone across her room a thousand times by now. Once again she stopped in front of the wall mirror and checked her outfit out. She guessed it could be said she was hot. Kinda. As much as one person could look hot when going to college. The girl wore a long patterned skirt which touched her feet and a short cropped top. Swaying the skirt one last time while wondering yet again whether it was the best she could do, the pink-haired jumped a mile high as she heard her phone beep from the bed._

 _Taking it in her hands she opened whatsapp and was surprised to find she had a message from Sasuke. That had to be a sign. All week she'd been thinking of him, now all morning she'd carefully dressed herself as to appease him, and as a result he'd messaged her, as if he'd been thinking of her at the same time. Eagerly opening the conversation, she was disappointed to see what it was about._ "We have to talk about Naruto's birthday party" _the message read._

 _Well that was frustrating. The only time Sasuke ever talked to her was to discuss Naruto. Of course, that didn't stay too long in her mind, as the bare fact the raven was talking to her was already enough of a reason to be hyping all around. She didn't even notice the weirdness of putting Uchiha and party in the same phrase. Instead, she typed back "_ Yes, of course, when can we do that? _" and waited for an answer._

 _"Sakura! We're leaving!"_

 _"I'm going, dad!"_

 _Slinging her side bag over her shoulder, the girl kissed her mother goodbye and followed her father out to the car so he could take her to the University. All the while, she kept talking to Sasuke in her phone, planning her blond friend's birthday without much interest. They decided it was to take place in Sasuke's home a week from then, and set out to warn the rest of the people who would be invited and help with the surprise party._

 _Sakura smiled to herself, clutching her cell phone near her heart. She felt like she was conspiring with Sasuke, sharing with him a secret only they knew. Of course that was silly, but she felt close enough to him to sigh in wondering. There would be a party, Sasuke would come. She would be there. There was no way he wasn't going to fall in love with her. She was going to assure herself of that._

 _As she waved to her father and watched him driving away, she had no idea how wrong she was._

–X–

The next day was tough for both him and Naruto.

The blond had had some kind of breakdown the night previous, and even after he stopped crying he didn't seem much keen on doing anything. He'd called Iruka at Naruto's request to say his friend was going to spend the night at his house, and the man, albeit worried, showed little resistance. Sasuke had taken it upon himself to clean the mess the other had left around after that, all the time Naruto being sitting much too quietly on the couch, and as he did so his mind couldn't stop racing.

What where they going to do now? Why was Naruto so hurt upon a relationship which only lasted one month? Was he going to get better any time soon? How would he get better, and how could Sasuke help? It was end of semester already, how could this impact on Naruto failing any subject? Although he kept asking himself all these questions, he still supressed one, but it kept making its way to the front of his mind and at one moment it was impossible to keep it at bay. When the question finally made itself impossible to ignore, demanding all his attention, Sasuke's heart clenched at the prospect of the answer: _what did Sakura breaking up with Naruto mean for his future?_

The answer was painfully obvious.

Because it meant _absolutely nothing_.

His friend would continue being just that, a friend. He would one day forget Sakura and then fall in love with other girls. Sasuke would still have his heart beat a little faster whenever Naruto hugged of touched his skin for a lingering moment, but it still wouldn't mean a thing but good friendship.

He couldn't imagine a most destructive kind of friendship. For him, at least, that is.

It didn't help one bit that when he'd gone to bed he'd barely been able to sleep, having heard Naruto's silent weeping for a long time. After that, when he finally fell asleep, it was to a night of tumultuous dreaming where he woke up to Naruto jerking off to him, and then they had the best idealistic sex Sasuke could have imagined. It was even worse that he dreamt the same dream until morning, having had to run to the bathroom in order to get rid of his hard on.

He felt disgusted at himself. What about those classic romantic phrases where people said they were happy if the person they loved was happy too, even if the other person's happiness wasn't found with them? What about at least being moral enough to be a normal person and help his friend instead of dreaming of fucking him? Sure, he couldn't quite control his subconscious, but still, was it so hard to be in one piece so as to help Naruto out? _He_ should be the one needing help, not Sasuke.

Splashing water from the sink over his face the raven stared at his dripping reflexion in the mirror. So that's what he should do, find a way to help Naruto out. He wracked his brain for a manual as to what to do after a breakup but couldn't find much considering he'd never dated anyone. However, he'd fallen in love with Naruto, and unrequited love should be all kind of similar. Right?

He tried thinking about what he'd done to get over his just found passion, at least to what concerned being conformed enough with it so he would be able to be Naruto's friend without much complication. Well there were certainly phases as to his getting over and dealing with it. He slapped himself mentally as he dried his face and took the brush from the cabinet to start brushing his teeth. First, he's denied it all to himself. After taking it in, he'd spent an embarrassing number of nights taking it out on porn and random masturbations in his room and sometimes in other very awkward places. Besides the feeling of being dirty, he supposed he couldn't just come to Naruto and tell him he should masturbate to Sakura, it'd be weird and he wouldn't like to know it. It wasn't the kind of thing you share, anyway.

Secondly, he'd closed off from the world, for as much time as it took for him to realise it was no help and it wasn't going to solve his problems. And, as he was trying exactly to avoid having Naruto shut the world out, he jumped to the third phase. It was the time for escape. In retrospect, it was much alike the second phase, just a different kind of escape, because in the third stage he could escape with his friends, Naruto included. It was a time when he drank a lot, played games, watched movies, read a thousand romance novels. He felt like a prissy, but hey, it made him get better.

Then the fourth stage, which he was currently in. Thoroughly accepting it all and becoming reasonably used to it. He knew the third phase was a step to the fourth, as he did that the fourth was a step to getting over Sakura completely and forgetting her, as much as he didn't think he'd forget Naruto so soon. So, since the first two stages in his mental manual weren't useful, he thought he might as well try and make his friend distract himself and as happy as a person who'd just been dumped could be.

Spitting the foam in the sink, he combed a hand through his hair and left the bathroom to face a very much awake Naruto sitting in his mattress by the floor and looking as crestfallen as Sasuke had ever seen.

"Morning"

The blond looked up at him and murmured a low greeting in return. Now that was going to be hard. Not only was Naruto destroyed, Sasuke also wasn't the most cheering person to be around. In fact, it was Naruto who lighted the Uchiha's days; now it would be hard not to fall depressed together with the blond.

"Go take a shower. Feel like eating some bacon and eggs?" he tried, walking closer and crouching in front of the other at a distance.

"Look, Sasuke, I appreciate it, but I don't want to be a burden to you. I already slept here last night you don't have to cook for me, I… I'm just going home and be a little alone, okay?"

"No, it's not okay. I know what you're trying to do, Naruto, and I won't let you. Since when do you care about bothering me? Besides, I'm letting you do it, and it's not like I'm the talkative type. You can stay, in fact, I'm not letting you out of my sight" he said in a concerned voice at the same time showing there was no place for discussion.

Naruto seemed ready to object, but deflated within a heartbeat. Whether it was out of tiredness or just conformity he didn't know, but he knew he had to do something soon. It was only five minutes since the other had awaken and already he felt disturbed at how quiet he'd been so far.

"Go take your shower. You can borrow my clothes, if you like. I'll be waiting downstairs" he said and turned around to leave.

"Hey, Sasuke"

"Yeah?" he answered by the door.

"Can you make mango juice, too?" the blond asked with a trace of a smile. He didn't know if there was mango in the house, but if it'd help Naruto he'd find a way to do it anyway. So he nodded, to which Naruto got up, looking at him in the eyes with a thankful smile from the middle of the room.

"Thanks" he blond said with a both apologetic and thankful smile in his face.

"You're welcome" Sasuke responded and tapped the door to mark his leaving. He felt all too warm for his taste, but that's just how things were with him when it concerned his friend. He felt the other had meant more than just being grateful for the juice, too. It was gratitude, for his caring, and it was an apology, for his time. It didn't sit well on the blond.

About twenty minutes later he was sitting in the kitchen table with Naruto across from him, picking at his food. He'd been doing that since he'd sat down and had barely put three forks of food into his mouth.

For a person like Naruto, it was extremely concerning. It irked him more that he didn't know what to say. Sasuke was never good with comforting people, and all the ways he could think of comforting Naruto would be absolutely uncalled for. He hoped he could just pass as the caring friend who repeatedly told him to eat, and that this would help somehow. He couldn't let the blond starve just because his heart ached, after all.

The raven was halfway through his plate when he heard Itachi's steps coming down the stairs and he froze immediately. It would be no good if Itachi messed with Naruto in this state of things. Hell, even if he stayed quiet his presence was already enough to make the blond go nuts. He didn't need the push. Sasuke had to do something, he had to get them out of there before his brother arrived at the kitchen, he had to–

"Morning, Otouto. How's your friend doing?"

Sasuke glanced at his friend, who remained as impassive as before, as if Itachi's presence didn't annoy him in the least. Okay, this was a big sign of how bad he was, and he wasn't going to have it.

"He's doing okay. Are you going, already?" he asked more like a suggestion to his sibling.

Itachi raised an eyebrow and nodded, leaving soundlessly next. When he heard the door clicked, he started:

"Naruto, you have to eat"

"I know, I'm just not hungry"

"I know, but you have to. There's no point in starving just because you're sad"

"Yeah… I guess" he lifted a fork to his mouth and chewed and the cold food "Thanks"

"For what?"

"For being by my side, I guess. For taking care of me, you didn't have to"

"Of course I had to" Sasuke interrupted "You're my… friend, after all. I mean, you keep saying that"

Naruto's eyes snapped up to meet his, his face devoid of the nothingness it was before. Surprise covered his features, even as it receded to give way to a calm kind of mirth.

"Really. It took you so long to admit that" the blond said, a thin smile gracing his face.

Sasuke was relieved enough to have elicited such a reaction from his friend "Yeah, well, I had to keep it to when you would be sad and dead set on not eating, like today, dobe" he smiled.

"Pff, you're so conceited, teme"

"I'm honest" he smirked.

"But… Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for not mentioning Sakura, too" he said, and Sasuke pursed his lips. Truth is, he'd been asking himself to that point why Naruto was so bad for the breakup. Sure, it was a breakup like any other, but he just couldn't think how his friend would be so devastated after a one month relationship. It seemed too short for a person to develop a connection like that, and Sakura sure seemed like she didn't give half the importance Naruto was giving it.

The question was in the tip of his tongue, but after what the blond had said he just couldn't say it. Well, resigning was all he had left to do, he supposed. Just as he'd thought that his friend continued talking, as if he hadn't stopped at all:

"But… You know, I kind of felt it coming"

"What do you mean?" he furrowed his brows.

Naruto laughed sadly at the question "How long have you known Sakura, Sasuke?"

"Since the beginning of the semester, I guess"

The blond bit his lip in a half smile which spoke misery and replied "Yeah. I've known her since I was ten years old. And she never looked at me twice. Not until I entered college at the same class as her, anyway"

Wow. Naruto had never told him of that. So maybe that's why the connection ran so deep. Sakura didn't give a damn about him since he was ten, but he did. Hell, probably he'd nurtured a platonic love for her all this time, and only now he'd had the chance to concretize it. And he'd lost it so fast. How ironic. As if to confirm what he was thinking, Naruto continued:

"I've fallen for her since the first moment I looked at her. We were ten and she was still blonde, the most beautiful girl in sixth grade. She was a year older, of course, so that's why I thought she didn't give a rat's ass about me. But as time passed, other girls got near me, and she didn't. She didn't ignore me as before" he laughed drily "but she definitely wasn't my friend, or anything near it. And then I enter college and she's in my class, and we all become friends, you and me and her, and we start dating, and she breaks up with me a month later. Don't know why I got my hopes up in the first place".

That hurt. Hearing Naruto, the most optimistic person he knew talk like that, it hurt. It hurt to know that he would choose someone like that when he was in front of him, ready to give him his soul if he asked. Ready to embrace him and never let him go. He wanted to say something to comfort, and he would, but the blond beat him to it "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but I really don't feel like eating right now. And I think we should do something else"

"We should. Listen, Naruto…"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that"

"You have nothing to be sorry for, it's not your fault" the blond smiled.

"I guess" he got up and took his plate as well as Naruto's "wanna play something?"

"Sure" the blond sighed "Why not?"

–X–

"Wooooooow, this game is amazing!" Naruto exclaimed in amazement. Sasuke had suggested they played a game they hadn't played yet, and he made Naruto choose it. The blond had taken a DVD at random and put it in Sasuke's Xbox. It ended up being Mirror's Edge and, even though it wasn't the ideal game for the both of them to play, as soon as Sasuke had shown him the basics to the game – he'd played it too many times – the blond had snatched it from his hands and taken the control over his console.

"Woooow, look at that! Sasuke I wanna do that in real life!" his friend said, eyes glued to the screen as he watched the legs of the protagonist land in another roof over ten feet away from where she was previously.

"I'm glad you like it" he smiled to the side of Naruto's excited face "Parkour is a little dangerous though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but look how cool she is? I love Faith, man, she's pretty, she's strong… I wanna look like her"

He had to laugh at that "You sure don't mean it, do you?"

"Are you serious? Of course I wanna look like her! Ouch, wait a sec" the blond said, and Sasuke kept watching him with content. He was glad it was so easy to cheer Naruto up, even though he wasn't the one _actively_ doing nothing to help "Ok, so yeah, maybe not her looks, but I wanna learn to do what she does. Why did you never show me this game, Sasuke?"

He shrugged "You never asked for it. Whenever you came to play you already had something in mind, this was the first time you tried something new" he replied.

"I guess so" Naruto said matter-of-factly, his attention all taken by the game.

Sasuke sighed "I guess this is going to become your addiction, then" he murmured to himself more so than to the other occupant of his room.

And it did, actually. The raven went for his desk to study while Naruto played, and the blond asked for his help here and there, but if it wasn't for his intervention his friend would've have stayed the entire day by the TV, playing. He'd threatened to drag his friend downstairs for lunch, but Naruto begged him to have it upstairs, and he inhaled the food so fast Sasuke barely saw it. Next thing he had turned around and was playing again.

Well, at least it helped to know Naruto was well and eating again, right?

"Ok, that's enough"

"Nooo! I wanna play some more, Sasuke!"

"Dobe, I'll teach you how to pass that phase tomorrow. You've been there the entire morning and afternoon"

"Okay, mommy"

Sasuke made a face "Don't call me that"

"Why not, you're behaving just like one"

"Yeah, but I don't want to be your mom", he said.

"Huh, why not?"

"Because you're way too annoying, dobe" he smirked, taking the joystick from his friend's hand.

"Teme!" he yelled "Give me that back"

"No"

The blond jumped to his feet "Give me that back now!" Sasuke frowned at his friend when he saw his face. It was much angrier than it was supposed to be in a situation like that one.

"What are you so angry about? It's just a game, I told you could play it tomorrow"

Naruto clenched his fists at his sides "Give me that back"

Sasuke frowned even more, defences rising. What the hell was wrong with Naruto, anyway? It was just a game, and it was _his_ , he had no reason to be angry like that!

"I told you you're going to play it tomorrow! What are you, eight years old? Besides, I'm just tired, you spent the entire day over there and we barely talked, what about we do something different for a change?"

"Give it back!" Naruto lunged for the joystick and, as Sasuke tried hiding it behind himself, they both toppled over onto the bed, the blond on top of the raven. Sasuke widened his eyes, but his friend barely noticed as he was still looking for the control behind his friend, and with the Uchiha being completely unobservant he took it away easily.

Only then did he look at Sasuke's face, expression smug and angry, expecting to find the same expression in return. When what he found in its place was the raven's shocked expression his own features changed to a confused tone as he spent a few seconds staring at him from a very close distance, and a very closed off mind.

At the same time, Sasuke's mind was a complete chaos. He felt a blush creeping up on his cheeks, and for all there was he hoped Naruto didn't notice it. He didn't give a damn about the joystick now, it be damned! All that mattered was his friend was lying on top of him, between his legs, face too close for comfort.

And he was enjoying it.

Before he could enjoy it any more, though, he pushed Naruto to the side and out of bed, stepping out of it hurriedly and storming out of the room. In his way he murmured a "Do what you want, then" and went downstairs to get distracted. He felt himself already half hard, and he felt ridiculous, but taking his mind off things for a while might help him with it. Turning on the TV he put Saruto Shuppiiden to play, only to notice he was staring at a black-haired version of his friend, which made him angry, which made him throw the control across the living room.

It didn't work much, because the TV was still on.

He grunted in desperation, and was just about to hit himself when Naruto appeared.

"I'm sorry" the blond said, and he looked up to meet his face "Do you care if I turn it off?" he asked, pointing at the TV.

"No" he replied and shut his mouth.

His friend switched the TV off and then turned to him again "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted that way. I don't know what came to me I…"

He sighed "It's okay, dobe" Sasuke responded, even though he wasn't able to produce a smile yet. Not that it was easy for him to smile _whenever_ , but who cares.

Naruto smiled at the nickname "It was a damn good game, teme" he said, making the raven smile involuntarily "What do we do now?"

Granted, he had been thinking about this already, so all he did was get up and get his car keys, then turned to Naruto while holding them up "What about going out for some ramen?"

The answer was his blond's trademark grin spread on a tanned face.

–X–

It ended up not being such a nice idea going out for dinner after all.

Not just because Naruto was a hell of a voracious eater for normal food, let alone ramen – and this whole hanging out would cost him a week's allowance – but also because they were not alone as Sasuke expected them to be. Of course he didn't imagine for a second it would be like a date, he'd gone several times to eat ramen with Naruto, and none of them were dates. But still, was it asking to not have Sakura appear to much?

"She doesn't even like ramen" Naruto complained "I don't know what the hell she's doing here"

"You sound so vicious already"

"I'm not, really" he said between mouthfuls "It's just that, come on, couldn't she leave me alone? Like I said, she doesn't like ramen, and I love it, was it so hard to guess I would like to do one of my favourite things the day after she dumps me?"

No, it wasn't. It wasn't for any day, in fact.

At least they hadn't seen them yet, Sasuke thought. The group was sitting across from them, at the other side of the restaurant. Sasuke could see them but Naruto had his back to gang, the only reason he knew Sakura was there was because he'd seen a speck of pink hair appearing at the entrance. He'd stopped eating right away, but as he say Sakura wasn't going in their direction he relaxed and started eating again. The raven was really thankful for that.

Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji and Sakura were sitting in a large table at the corner appearing to be having a nice happy hour. Sasuke grimaced. It was so wrong to have Naruto stick with him having no fun while the rest of the gang was hanging around as if nothing'd happened… he just wished he could _do_ something.

"Ne, Sasuke, grab me another bowl of ramen, will you?"

He rose an elegant eyebrow at the request "Sending orders now, are we?"

"Please, we're far away from the balcony and you already finished your bowl anyway"

He looked up and inspected the area. The balcony where most waiters and waitresses stood was way too close to where their friends were sitting now. There was no way they wouldn't see him if he approached. And he really didn't feel like being forced to knock Sakura out if she talked to him. "They'll see me".

The blond looked up "Whatever. Do they look happy?" the raven checked them one more time and decided that yes, they were. But would Naruto like to know that? There was only one way of knowing and besides, if he lied his friend could just turn around and see it for himself. "Yes, they do"

"So they won't even notice you there. They'll be distracted" the blond slurped his last bit of ramen in, and continued with a grin "You can go".

Ok so maybe for Naruto this was more about not showing up himself than being lazy enough to not go order another bowl. In any case Sasuke went and returned unharmed and unnoticed, just as his friend had predicted. He could be quite perceptive, sometimes.

The blond ate his food without many occurrences, and as they were ready to leave a hand closed down on Naruto's shoulder.

"Heeey, dude, what's up?"

"Hey, Kiba" his friend laughed nervously.

"Maa, you're so troublesome" Shikamaru said "Yo, Sasuke"

'Yo' he answered mentally with humour.

"Of course he's not fine, why do you even ask that? You're so dumb, Kiba!" Ino slapped said boy in the head.

"Ouch, I just wanted to know how the guy's doing, okay?" Kiba complained, then turned back to Naruto "So, ready to party hard?" he grinned at the blond boy.

"I'm sorry?" Naruto asked. Of course Sasuke hadn't missed it. From the point Kiba had appeared to now his friend had retracted himself and was acting absolutely unlike himself. In fact, he looked even a little nauseous.

"She's not here, dobe" and with that the blond looked up and around, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding "Thank God"

"What was that?"

"He thought we had Sakura with us, Kiba" Shikamaru replied.

"Of course not, duh!? We're not all as stupid as dog boy here" Ino smiled reassuringly.

"Who are you calling dog boy?"

"Ahm, guys, I'm not really in for partying, you know"

"Yeah, we do. That's exactly why you're going, you need to cheer up" Ino said, placing at hand at Naruto's other shoulder.

"It won't be that much of a party, just a little reunion of friends. Even I am going" Shikamaru put in as if waking up suddenly "it can't be that bad if I'm going"

"He's got a point" Sasuke said, looking amusedly at Naruto. The blond looked up at him, his eyes in a mixture of surprise and a plead for him to stop it all. His friend didn't feel like going out just yet, that was for sure, but still, what if it was with friends, without Sakura and to a place even Shikamaru could bear?

"I'll go with you" he said in a lower tone mostly for Naruto to hear "if you still don't feel like it, we'll leave" he assured the other boy. His friend gulped but seemed calmer all things considering, and nodded. Kiba yelled and Ino chimed in approval, and they both mostly lead the group outside the restaurant and into the cars.

Sasuke was feeling a little uneasy because, all in all, he could be pushing Naruto to something he didn't want to. But still, it was not like Naruto would want anything now, and he had to help. Of course, a killer party wouldn't help, but it was just a reunion with his friends and they were doing it in all good intention of cheering him up. And Sasuke had got his back, right? There was no way something could go wrong.

–X–

"You said it would be a little reunion with friends" Sasuke spat, a headache already forming in his head.

"Ino told me it would be more convincing if I said it. And it was supposed to be just a small gathering, but you know, friends have friends, who have friends…"

"That's why I don't have friends"

"Aaaaw c'mon Sasuke, _we_ are your friends!" Ino screamed from beside him, slinging an arm around his shoulder. The raven peeked at her and took her arm from around him with the tip of his fingers. The blonde made an offended look at the gesture and crossed her arms, pouting "you really didn't have to do that, Sasuke"

"You really didn't have to bring me here"

"You were the one who tagged alone Naruto like he was a lifeline. God you both are so troublesome" the boy said at the other side of him.

"Well, we did it for Naruto, anyway. And, he's the one having fun, I guess that's what matters, huh?" Ino observed, ending the conversation. The three of them were leaning against the kitchen counter to Kiba's house where the party took place: Shikamaru wasn't very fond of using his life force for anything, Ino felt empty without Sakura beside her, and Sasuke… Well, Sasuke was Sasuke. So they all stayed there chatting once in a while.

On the other side, Naruto was indeed having fun. The Uchiha didn't think his friend would enjoy a party so crowded in the current emotional state he was in, but Naruto'd surprised him by right away drinking three shots of tequila and going to the dance floor with Kiba. The raven hadn't tried to stop him, but he was keeping an eye on his friend in case anything happened.

–X–

Naruto had gotten lost from Kiba and was chatting up with a very pale girl with short black hair. They were sitting in the sofa, backs turned to where the other three people were, a pair of very dark eyes inspecting them. As if feeling the stare, the blond turned around and stared at Sasuke in a shock of blue. Grinning at him, the blond said something to the girl and went for the kitchen behind Sasuke, who turned around to face him.

"Enjoying the party?" Naruto asked as he poured himself half a glass of vodka.

"Not much. Who's that girl you were talking to?"

The blond looked up and gave another of his drunken grins "I knew you'd notice" Naruto filled the rest of the glass with some orange soda "She's prettain't she? Her name's Hinata, does she remind you o' anyone?" he asked slurring a little bit. The raven raised a brow up, a mix of curiosity and jealousy twisting inside him "Uhm… No?"

"C'mon, Sasuke!" his friend insisted while getting closer then whispered in his ear "doesn't she look just like Faith?" The raven slapped himself mentally and rolled his eyes. Great. Now because he had shown the dobe the game he had become a stupid fanboy and would chase after a stupid girl. Just his luck. He turned around to inspect the girl, and yeah, she did remind him of Faith. A tiny little bit.

"A little" he said and the blond grinned "she said she does Business in the same place we do!" he exclaimed and punched Sasuke in the shoulder "guess it makes things easier, huh?"

"You're just drunk" the raven said with his heart sinking. His friend laughed and walked to the sofa again.

Of course he didn't expect for nothing to happen between him and his friend, but really? The day after Sakura broke up with him Naruto was hitting on a random girl just because she was similar to a character from a game _he_ showed? The universe had to be mocking him. And the blond apparently didn't even give a damn about him, he didn't ask if he was okay or anything. Yeah, maybe there was no way for the blond to guess he had murdering intentions toward the girl, nor that he would feel extremely depreciated but just argh whatever Sasuke just wanted to punch something.

"Seems it all worked out in the end for Naruto, huh?" Kiba said appearing all of a sudden beside the group.

"Kiba! What's that face for?" Ino exclaimed. The tanned boy lowered his head, and then lifted it again to level their looks towards him. He didn't say a word though, and kept drinking from his beer.

"Tsk. I can't believe it"

"What is it, Shikamaru?" the blonde asked.

"Remember how Kiba never told us who that girl he was stalking around was?"

"Oh, poor Kiba, c'mere!" Ino opened his arms to hug him.

"Get off" he gestured with his bottle in his hand "I don't want pity. Besides, Naruto needs someone else more than I do right now"

"He needs to get out of here. Now" Sasuke said, and in a second everyone was looking to the same direction he was. At the door, a new person had just entered, a pink-haired girl.

"Omg Sakura said she wouldn't be here! Sasuke, take Naruto out of here, he's way too drunk already anyway" he moved, but he didn't need the order. If Ino hadn't told him to do so he would have done it sooner or later anyway.

"Naruto"

"Yeah?" the other looked up. Sasuke took him by the arm and raised him from the sofa, murmuring an excuse to Hinata and starting to drag him towards the back exit. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is that, teme? Let me go, I was just convincing her to go out of the party for a minute" despite the ache in his heart, the raven continued dragging him until his car parked outside, then shut his friend inside. As he left the house, though, he looked back and could see Sakura staring in their direction with an expression both surprised and frustrated. Sasuke ignored it as he entered the car and started the engine.

"Whadda fuck are you doing, teme?!" Naruto yelled punching the car as the raven started driving "I was doing just fine and you took me out of there like that, don't you care to at least apologize?!"

The raven kept his eyes fixed on the road not budging an inch to Naruto's questioning "I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

The car screeched to a halt and Sasuke started going in the other direction, acting as if he hadn't heard Naruto at all. The blond panted beside him, facing him completely and clenching his fists on the upholstery so hard it was likely to break the tissue covering it. Time passed and he didn't get any answers, so he just calmed down and crossed his arms, facing the front as any normal person would do.

"I hate you".

Sasuke winced but kept quiet. He didn't have what to say, in fact, he had a lot to say, but if he said it he would be as good as dead. He couldn't deny how happy he'd felt at having an excuse to take Naruto away from that girl, but the point is, the anger that'd been raised before hadn't yet worn off when he went to take his friend from that place. So yeah, he knew he'd been a little rough, and yeah, he knew he had been a hell of an idiot, but he had the right to be angry. Hadn't he?

He stopped right in front of Iruka and Naruto's house and unlocked the door at the passenger's side, then returned looking forward "Get the hell out of my car". From his peripheral vision he could see the blond stare indignantly at him, but he wouldn't, couldn't act like he cared about it. The blond got out and slammed the car's door, and before he could get to the front porch Sasuke had sped up his car and was out of his friend view.

He'd think about the consequences later. He had faith he could fix whatever they were.

–X–

 _/Chapter 02: Making off/_

 _Interviewer: Hello again, Sasuke!_

 _(…)_

 _Interviewer: …so, let's start with the questions! Did you really get pissed off about Naruto playing the entire day and leaving you aside?_

 _Sasuke: of course._

 _Interviewer: …was that why you threw the both of you onto your bed? *wiggles eyebrows*_

 _Sasuke: Shut up *death glare ft. blush*_

 _Interviewer: Uhm, ok. What about that scene when you depart from the party: what exactly were you thinking to drag Naruto and fight with him that way?_

 _Sasuke: None of your business._

 _Interviewer: … Sasuke, this is an interview, will you please participate?_

 _Sasuke: No._

 _Interviewer: Are you all right?_

 _Sasuke: Fuck off *stalks away*_

 _This was "Chapter 02: Pissing off" with Sasuke Uchiha, and I see you next chapter!_

–X–

 ** _A/N: a side note: you may find it that Sakura going to University with her father may be a little childish, oh well, brazilian's culture is different, and we're quite dependant on our parents until a very late time. Most of us don't work with 18 years old (at least not the ones who make it to college), and taking driving lessons is only allowed from 18 and on, not 16 or whatever._**

 ** _Yeah, Sasuke and Naruto are both underage, but it's also an issue here. 18 is the age when you can start drinking but that's really not what happens. I don't feel bad at all to represent such a reality here._**

 ** _So, what did you guys think? Hope you like it!_**

 ** _Please review and I see you next chapter! ^^_**

 _Posted on 13_ _th_ _July 2015_


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